The list of new species documented in the act of evolution, "Emergence of new species," has grown by a newly emerging species of Sparrow.
A recent publication, “Hybrid speciation in sparrows I: phenotypic intermediacy, genetic admixture and barriers to gene flow” (JO S. HERMANSEN, STEIN A. SÆTHER, TORE O. ELGVIN, THOMAS BORGE, ELIN HJELLE, GLENN-PETER SÆTRE, Molecular Ecology, Volume 20, Issue 18, pages 3812–3822, September 2011) adds another observed example of a new species that has been documented emerging. What makes this particular example interesting is four fold. First, it is a bird species, and vertebrate examples are less common than plants, or invertebrates. Second, it resulted from a hybrid between two similar species which has not been considered a likely pathway to speciation in vertebrates. Third, the researchers have been able to identify the actual genetic differences between the three species. Finally, the event is incomplete, and still in process.
Gary,
ReplyDeleteYou are confused as neither YEC, OEC nor Intelligent Design argue for the fixity of species.
Darwin was being dishonest when he wrote "On the Origins of Species..." and argued that his evidence refutes the fixity of species, a position that no scientists held- it was a strawman then and only the willfully ignorant promote it- and here you are.